Today is Halloween. Every year in my class, I ask my students for a warm-up exercise what it is that they fear. The tough kids always write “nothing,” which is a lie because the moment they have to face an administrator, they are scared. The top fears are death, bugs, spiders, the dark, and heights. We all have fears, whether they are rational or irrational, we all have them. For people who tell me they don’t, we can read their social media posts and see all the fears. People fear that they will lose their freedom or lose the country that they know. People fear that they will lose their jobs, or their health, or their family. The question isn’t what is that we fear. The question is how we can overcome our fears and why it is important that we do.
I know the roots of Halloween are evil. I know because a youth pastor informed us as young children of the roots. His teaching didn’t make me fear Halloween. It made me fear disobeying any of the rules that were set-up by the leaders in our church. If the leaders were able to have us follow the rules because of fear, they could control us. Leaders have been doing this for centuries. No matter which church you have attended, which political party line you align yourself, or any boss that you have over you, leaders have at some point led with fear. Why do they do this? Simple. If we lead with fear tactics, then people will not be rational and will just obey the words of the leaders, then the leaders will control us.
Fear is about control. If we feel out of control with something in our lives, then we fear what could happen or is happening. One reason people fear the future is that it is out of their control. People do not like change because they fear what they cannot control. We must let go of the concept that we have to control other people. we cannot control other people as much as we will try. If we can control people, they will follow the control for a specific amount of time, and then they will stop following us.
If we notice how people attempt to get us to purchase their wares, or vote for their candidate, or even attend their church, we can recognize when their driving force is for us to fear so they can control what we do. It may not sound like fear and control, but the moment we say that people cannot be Christians if they do this or that or vote this way or that or say this or that. Sin can be forgiven, including the sin of getting people to fear that God does not love them, so that they can be controlled by humans.
So, where do we go from here? We begin to find those who are leading with empowerment. They make room for innovations, even if those innovations seem silly. If we look at history, people always laughed at people who were inventing. Instead of laughing, we have made room for inventors to keep creating. The television show, Shark Tank has incorporated the spirit of inventions, as people are always going on the show to get their new idea and product on a mass market.
Let us take a close look at that which we fear. Are we allowing our fears and those who push our fears to control us, or are we controlling our fears and living a life of faith despite the bumps in the road that try to detour us and put us into despair? We can overcome our fears and let our lives be led by faith. Our fears will exist, but we cannot allow the fears or those pushing our fears to control us. We must allow for God to control our hearts, so that we are not walking by fear but by faith. So, no matter how we view or celebrate Halloween, we can all, give our fears and those who control them over to God and have a night of faith.
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